Overhead rod installation assembly for canopies or marquees



Jan. 31, 1967 w, c, HE|R|cH 3,300,941

OVERHEAD ROD INSTALLATION ASSEMBLY FOR CANOPIES OH MARQUEES Filed Aug.6, 1964 FIG. 4

30 INVENTOR I34 WILLIAM C. HEIRICH :22 1 use BY/SJOZQS W I32 ATTORNEYSUnited States Patent 3,300,941 OVERHEAD ROD INSTALLATION ASSEMBLY FORCANOPIES OR MARQUEESI William C. Heirich, 2912 Wauhilah Drive,-

Muskogee, Okla. 74401 Filed Aug. 6, 1964. Ser. No. 387,830 6 Claims.(Cl. 52-721) The invention disclosed herein relates to canopies ormarquees. and in particular to an improved overhead rod installation forsupporting canopies or marquees from a wall.

Providing the necessary structural support for canopies, such as thosedisclosed in my recently issued US. Patent No. 3,107,401 and my pendingapplication Serial No. 358,024, which issued January 4, 1966, as U.S.Patent No. 3,226,891 is frequently accomplished by the use of overheadrod assemblies having one end thereof attached to the canopy and theother end thereof attached to the wall from which the canopy extends. Itis, of course, of the utmost importance that these overhead rodassemblies be designed for ease in installation, and at the same time beadaptable for use with different types of marquee constructions; Thatis, the design feature of being able to use the same basic componentparts of the overhead rod assembly for use with all types of canopyconstructions thus requiring the minimum amount of time and effort infield installation is of great importance.

Yet additional objects of invention will become apparent from theensuing specification and attached drawings which illustrate theoverhead rod assembly wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an exploded side elevation partly in section showing thecomponent parts of the overhead rod installation; 7

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of the assembled overhead rod installationassembly used in conjunction with a marquee construction such as thatdisclosed in US. Patent No. 3,107,401;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation of the assembled overhead rodinstallationused in conjunction with a marquee construction such as disclosed in US.Patent No. 3,226, 891; and

FIGURE 4 is a modified form of overhead support for a marqueeconstruction such as disclosed in my pending application Serial No;358,024 wherein horizontal steel members extending from a wall are usedas supporting members.

The novel overhead rod installation disclosed herein, as shown in FIGURE1, consists of a wall bracket 10, wall bracket attachment assembly 20,overhead rod tubing 40, facia bracket attachment assembly 50, and eitherfacia brackets 70 or 90.

Wall bracket consists of. a. flat upper portion 12, a flat lower portion14, and a substantially semi-circular middle portion 16 containing aslot 18, the purpose of which will be disclosed hereinafter. Wallbracket 10 is attached to wall 84, as shown in FIGURE 2, with the use ofconventional mounting bolts.

The wall bracket attachment assembly 20 consists of an upper casting 22containing a central passageway therethrough. The uppermost end portionof upper casting 22 has a diameter larger than that of the remainingportion of upper casting 22 thus defining a supporting shoulder 24providing a seat for overhead rod tubing 40. A bolt 26 passes throughthe central passageway of upper casting 22 and slot 18 of wall bracket10 and terminates in a half-round steel nut 26 held in place by lock nutice holes 42, corresponding to holes 30 of upper casting 22, throughwhich self tapping bolts 44 are passed to fasten overhead rod tubing 40to upper casting 22 during field assembly. Similar holes are located atthe bottom portion of overhead rod tubing 40 for engaging tubing 40 withlower casting 52.

Facia bracket attachment assembly 50 consists of lower casting 52,containing a threaded central passageway 53 therein, and has a lower endportion defining supporting shoulder 54. A specially designed bolt 56,to which are attached tubing lock nut 58 and bracket lock nut 60, isscrewed in place within passageway 53 until tubing lock nut 58 rests inabutting relationship against the lowermost portion of lower casting 52.It is obvious, of course, that by turning tubing lock nut 58 clockwiseor counterclockwise it is possible to vary the length of bolt 56 whichprotrudes within passageway 53 of lower casting 52. At the lowermost endof bolt 56, and forming an integral part thereof, is a half-roundassembly 62. Self-tapping bolts 44 are used to attach overhead rodtubing 40 to lower casting 52 in the same manner as disclosed above withrespect to overhead rod tubing 40 and upper casting 22.

The facia bracket 70 used in conjunction with a marquee constructionsuch as disclosed in my Patent 3,107,401, comprises a vertical flange 72terminating near the upper portion thereof in a half-round supportingportion 74 which rests in abutting relationship against half-roundassembly 62 of bolt 56. Near the mid portion of vertical flange 72 islocated a horizontal flange 76 which is biased within a facia 78 whichencloses the ends of panels 80 of the marquee construction. Wall faciabracket 82 is used to attach the panels 80 to wall 84.

The facia bracket 90, used in conjunction with a marquee constructionsuch as disclosed in US. Patent No 3,226,891, comprises a half-roundportion 92 containing a slot 94 for engaging the half-round assembly 62of bolt 56 in sliding relationship. The lowermost portion 96 of faciabracket is attached to a panel clip 98, which slides within the top ofhollow beam 100, by means of bolt 102.

From examining FIGURES 2 and 3, it is obvious that the overhead rodinstallation assembly is capable of sup porting various types of canopyor marquee constructions. The design of wall bracket 10 and uppercasting assembly 20, together with the design of facia brackets 70 and90 and the lower casting assembly 50 enable the overhead rod tubing 40to assume any desired angle with respect to the panel assemblies 80 inaccordance with the length of the marquees. Further, the onlyconstruction work required on the site is the cutting of overhead rodtubing 40 to the desired length. Then, once assembled, the preciselength of overhead rod tubing 40 is obtained by merely adjusting theposition of lock nut 58 on bolt 56 which, of course, determines thelength of bolt 56 which protrudes within lower casting 52.

A modified form of overhead support for various marquee constructions,and in particular that type of const-r-uction disclosed in US. PatentNo. 3,226,891, is shown in FIGURE 4 wherein a steel beam is attached tothe building wall (not shown) and extends outwardly in a horizontaldirection immediately above the panels 122 of the marquee. As seen inFIGURE 4, bracket 124 is secured to the end of steel beam 120 by weldingor bolting to the top flange of beam 120. Threaded bolt 126 acts as anadjustable hanger for the panels 122 and hollow beam 136. By simplyturning the head 128 of bolt 126 the height of panels 122 and theirsupporting beams 13-6 may be adjusted. The load from the panels 122 istransferred to bolt 126 through banger bracket 134. Nut 132 is merelyused to secure bolt 126 to hanger bracket 134.

Manifestly, still further modifications of the novel overhead rodinstallation assembly may be employed without departing from the scopeof invention, as defined by the sub-joined claims.

I claim:

1. An overhead rod installation assembly for use with a marqueeconstruction of the type having a first end attached to a wall and asecond end suspended in space and terminating in a facia, comprising:

(A) a wall bracket attached to said wall at an elevation above saidmarquee;

(B) facia bracket means generally complementary in configuration withrespect to said facia and slidably mounted therein;

(C) an overhead rod tubing having an upper end and a lower end;

(D) wall bracket attachment assembly means connecting said wall bracketand said overhead rod tubing, including:

(i) a first support mounted within said upper end of said overhead rodtubing,

(ii) first fastening means securing said first support to said wallbracket permitting said first support to rotate freely with respect tosaid wall bracket, and

(iii) second fastening means securing said upper end of said overheadrod tubing to said first support permitting said tubing to rotate withsaid first support in relation to said wall bracket; and

(E) facia bracket attachment assembly means connecting said overhead rodtubing and said facia bracket means, including:

(i) a second support mounted within said lower end of said overhead rodtubing,

(ii) third fastening means securing said lower end of said tubing tosaid second support, and

(iii) fourth fastening means securing said second support to said faciabracket means permitting said overhead rod tubing to rotate with saidsecond support in relation to said facia bracket means while alsopermitting the distance between said second support and said faciabracket means to be varied as said overhead rod tubing is twisted.

2. An overhead rod installation assembly as in claim 1, wherein saidsecond support located within the lower end of said overhead rod tubingincludes a threaded passageway and said fourth fastening means includesa bolt having a first end threaded within said passageway and *a secondend secured to said facia bracket means, together with at least one locknut threaded upon said bolt and normally abutting said second support.

3. An overhead rod installation assembly as in claim 2, wherein saidwall bracket and said facia bracket means each include a generallyhalf-round portion while said first fastening means includes ahalf-round nut held within said half-round portion of said wall bracketin sliding relationship and said second end of said bolt of said fourthfastening means includes a half-round portion held within saidhalf-round portion of said facia bracket means in sliding relationship.

4. An overhead rod installation assembly for use with a marqueeconstruction of the type having a first end attached to a wall and asecond end suspended in space with at least one supporting beam,comprising:

(A) a first bracket attached to said wall at an elevation above saidmarquee;

(B) second bracket means slidably mounted within said supporting beam;

(C) an overhead rod tubing having an upper end and a lower end;

(D) means connecting said first bracket and said upper end of saidoverhead rod tubing, including:

(i) a first support mounted within said upper end of said overhead rodtubing,

(ii) first fastening means securing said first support to said firstbracket permitting said first support to rotate freely, and

(iii) second fastening means securing said upper end of said overheadrod tubing to said first support permitting said tubing to rotate withsaid first support; and

(E) means connecting said second bracket means and said lower end ofsaid overhead rod tubing, includ- (i) a second support mounted withinsaid lower end of said overhead rod tubing,

(ii) third fastening means securing said lower end of said tubing tosaid second support, and

(iii) fourth fastening means securing said second support to said secondbracket means permitting said overhead rod tubing to rotate with saidsecond support in relation to said second bracket means while alsopermitting the distance between said second support and said secondbracket means to be varied as said overhead rod tubing is twisted.

5. An overhead rod installation assembly as in claim 4, wherein saidsecond support includes a threaded passageway and said fourth fasteningmeans includes a bolt having a first end threaded within said passagewayand a second end secured to said second bracket means, to gether with atleast one lock nut threaded upon said bolt and normally abutting saidsecond support.

6. An overhead rod installation assembly as in claim 5, wherein saidsecond bracket means constitutes a clip member slidably mounted withinsaid supporting beam and a bracket attached above said clip member towhich said second end of said bolt is secured.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,908,053 10/1959Gilman et al. 5273 FOREIGN PATENTS 239,834 7/1962 Australia.

HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Primary Examiner:

J. K. BELL, Assistant Examiner.

1. AN OVERHEAD ROD INSTALLATION ASSEMBLY FOR USE WITH A MARQUEECONSTRUCTION OF THE TYPE HAVING A FIRST END ATTACHED TO A WALL AND ASECOND END SUSPENDED IN SPACE AND TERMINATING IN A FACIA, COMPRISING:(A) A WALL BRACKET ATTACHED TO SAID WALL AT AN ELEVATION ABOVE SAIDMARQUEE; (B) FACIA BRACKET MEANS GENERALLY COMPLEMENTARY INCONFIGURATION WITH RESPECT TO SAID FACIA AND SLIDABLY MOUNTED THEREIN;(C) AN OVERHEAD ROD TUBING HAVING AN UPPER END AND A LOWER END; (D) WALLBRACKET ATTACHMENT ASSEMBLY MEANS CONNECTING SAID WALL BRACKET AND SAIDOVERHEAD ROD TUBING, INCLUDING: (I) A FIRST SUPPORT MOUNTED WITHIN SAIDUPPER END OF SAID OVERHEAD ROD TUBING, (II) FIRST FASTENING MEANSSECURING SAID FIRST SUPPORT TO SAID WALL BRACKET PERMITING SAID FIRSTSUPPORT TO ROTATE FREELY WITH RSPECT TO SAID WALL BRACKET, AND (III)SECOND FASTENING MEANS SECURING SAID UPPER END OF SAID OVERHEAD RODTUBING TO SAID FIRST SUPPORT PERMITTING SAID TUBING TO ROTATE WITH SAIDFIRST SUPPORT IN RELATION TO SAID WALL BRACKET; AND (E) FACIA BRACKETATTACHMENT ASSEMBLY MEANS CONNECTING SAID OVERHEAD ROD TUBING AND SAIDFACIA BRACKET MEANS, INCLUDING: (I) A SECOND SUPPORT MOUNTED WITHIN SAIDLOWER END OF SAID OVERHEAD ROD TUBING, (II) THIRD FASTENING MEANSSECURING SAID LOWER END OF SAID TUBING TO SAID SECOND SUPPORT, AND (III)FOURTH FASTENING MEANS SECURING SAID SECOND SUPPORT TO SAID FACIABRACKET MEANS PERMITTING SAID OVERHEAD ROD TUBING TO ROTATE WITH SAIDSECOND SUPPORT IN RELATION TO SAID FACIA BRACKET MEANS WHILE ALSOPERMITTING THE DISTANCE BETWEEN SAID SECOND SUPPORT AND SAID FACIABRACKET MEANS TO BE VARIED AS SAID OVERHEAD ROD TUBING IS TWISTED.